(Butte County, CA) — An Oroville man was charged today by the Butte County District Attorney’s Office for causing the Thompson Fire in Oroville.

26 year old Spencer Grant Anderson, of Oroville, is accused of starting the Thompson Fire near the intersection of Cherokee and Thompson Flat Roads. Anderson is charged with arson of an inhabited structure, arson of forest land, and arson causing multiple structures to burn.

Shortly after the fire started, CAL FIRE arson investigators responded to the Cherokee Road area and pinpointed the fire’s area of origin. They were able to determine the fire was caused by arson, by ruling out other weather, mechanical, or utility causes. Through interviews with 911 callers and other witnesses, CAL FIRE investigators worked through the rest of the day and night and identified a Toyota sedan driven by an unknown man subject as being in the precise area at the time the fire started.

50 days later, after building the case, Anderson was arrested and questioned. He admitted that on the morning of the fire, he purchased fireworks from a firework stand in Oroville, then went up Cherokee Road to “test one” by throwing it out his car window. Anderson is being held in the Butte County Jail on a no-bail hold and will be back in court tomorrow.